


One Melange, Please

by Yudonomi



Series: AusHun Week 2020 [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: AusHunWeek2020, Cafe AU, F/M, Human AU, Tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24568450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yudonomi/pseuds/Yudonomi
Summary: In which Erzsi accidentally bumps into a customer and gets a lot more in return.Published for AusHun Week 2020 Day 4: Food
Relationships: Austria/Hungary (Hetalia)
Series: AusHun Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775827
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	One Melange, Please

The tiny bell above the door rang as Erzsébet entered the café. The man behind the counter looked up at her, flashing a grin.

"Pleasant morning, Élisabeth!" greeted Francis "Found yourself some company at your place yet?"

Erzsébet scoffed, walking behind Francis and to the back room "No way in hell. Emma here yet?"

"In the kitchen!" a woman called out. Erzsébet put her bag in her locker and tied her hair and headed to the kitchen, where the Belgian was humming to herself as she put a tray of biscuits into the oven.

Erzsébet took in the scent, her lips curling into a smile "Man, those are great as ever, Em."

"I know, right?" Emma grinned, patting her hands on her apron "There're some macarons over there, and I made quite a bit so you and Francis may get one or two for yourselves."

Erzsébet leapt and hugged Emma, squealing "You're the best!"

She practically ran to the counter where a tray of the pastries had been placed. Erzsébet took one of the pink, white, and brown treats for herself and went to the front to give the other to Francis. She bit into hers, the three flavors of Neapolitan making her sigh.

Francis was arranging a few tables and chairs, and Erzsébet approached and tapped him on the back. He looked at her quizzically for a few moments before noticing the macaron she held out in her hand "Ah, thank you, Élisa."

He took the macaron and took small, almost hesitant bites into it, and Erzsébet knew he would probably ignore her and the outside world until he was done fantasizing about pastries and food again. She helped fix up the place, the minutes ticking by until she looked at her watch- 8:00 AM. She walked to the door, and flipped the "CLOSED" sign over.

It was work time.

\---

The day went about the same as usual: Kiku furiously drawing away at one of the corner tables with his green tea; Iryna running in and out of the café with a folder tucked underneath her arm (she ordered a mocha); Alfred laughing almost too hard to order "one iced americano for the iced Americano"; his brother Matthew stood nearby shaking his head, and from somewhere in the café someone- probably Lovino- groaned out loud.

Erzsébet delivered a brown sugar boba to a girl with pink flowers behind her ears "You look lovely."

"Thanks!" the girl beamed "I just got these clips yesterday. Mei, by the way."

"Erzsébet, but you can call me Erzsi or whatever. Where did you-"

"Waitress!" the Brit that Francis seemed to have a love-hate relationship with called from across the room.

Erzsébet smiled apologetically at Mei before rushing to the man. Yet another order of Earl Grey. She took his empty cup and went to the kitchen, where Emma was moving about making orders. Erzsébet refilled the tea cup and went back outside, delivering the drink to the man and taking his payment.

The bell rang with another customer, this time a girl with blonde hair and a stuffy man that seemed to be her father. They seated themselves by a window, and Erzsébet approached them with a tray and clipboard in hand.

"One melange and an iced lemon tea, please." The girl said. Erzsébet nodded and went to Francis with the order. A few minutes later, her tray was loaded again and she went back to the girl and the man.

"One latte and one melange. Anything else, miss?" She placed each drink in front of the two. The girl looked at her father, but he was too engrossed in his folder to notice.

"It's okay." she smiled at Erzsébet. She smiled back and spun around, accidentally hitting the man's arm with her tray and falling to the ground as papers flew around her.

"Oh, sir, I'm so sorry-" Erzsébet stammered, picking up the sheets. Her cheeks flushed red and the girl joined her.

"No, no, it's fine." The man gathered a few sheets of paper onto his lap and placed them inside the folder, accepting the rest from Erzsébet and the girl.

Erzsébet paused for a moment, noticing the lines and squiggles on the paper as music. The fancy schmancy concert hall type "Y-you write songs, sir?"

He blinked, taking the sheets handed to him "Occasionally. Mostly for the piano."

"I'm sure they're lovely." Erzsébet said.

"Thank you."

Erzsébet excused herself, heading to the kitchen and grabbing Emma from behind and muffling herself with the woman's back.

"Hey, hey, what happened?" Emma asked, turning around after placing a cake into the oven. She put her hands on Erzsébet's cheeks, which Erzsébet was certain were still bright red.

"I hit someone and dropped their stuff." she blurted.

"Aw, come on, sweetie, if they're not mad, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Emma cooed, pressing Erzsébet's cheeks together.

"He's a composer, Em! The stiff aristocrat kind that's just waiting for you to mess up so they can list off all of your mistakes ever."

"Musician? Wow that seems cool. What's he look like?"

"Em!"

"I'm just asking!" Emma raised her hands "Come on, he might actually be famous or something."

"Uhm..." Erzsébet frowned a bit as she tried to recall what happened just a few minutes earlier "He's brunet, wears glasses, and has one strand of hair standing up like Alfred, but longer."

Emma dropped her hands, her mouth hanging open as well "Oh. Em. Gee."

Erzsébet felt her heart beat faster "What is it, Em? You know him or something?"

"I know him? Hun, you just literally bumped into the Roderich Edelstein. Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"Maybe?"

"He's like, half of our playlist. Francis absolutely adores his stuff."

Erzsébet began to sink to the ground "Oh God. Oh Godohgodohgod-"

"Girls!" Francis burst into the kitchen "I understand you want to talk, but can you please wait until the day's over so I can join in, too?"

"Whatever." Emma rolled her eyes, turning Erzsébet around and practically pushing her out of the kitchen "Much love, Erzsi."

\---

Erzsébet flipped over the "OPEN" sign and flicked off a few lights. The ones left on were at the back room, where Emma and Francis would be at after a long day of work.

Emma was fixing her hair whilst Francis went on about fashion and such. Erzsébet plopped down on the bench beside Emma, letting out a loud breath.

"So," began Francis "what were you two kittens going on about in the kitchen a while ago?"

"Come on, Francis." said Emma "You're the one in the front, not me."

The Frenchman's eyes lit up "Ah, it must be our dear Élisa ahem- hitting on Monsieur Edelstein. Quite bold and literal of you." he winked.

Erzsébet groaned "Guys, stop- I got clumsy, okay?"

"But you've never tripped so marvelously in your three years here."

"I'd hate to agree with Francis on anything, but he's right, you know." said Emma.

"Of course I am."

"Gaahhh." Erzsébet buried her face in her hands, feeling her cheeks become hotter again. Francis chuckled.

"Don't worry; I'm sure he'll forget it soon enough, and if he doesn't...Well, you might have a song dedicated to you soon."

"Francis, I doubt a classical piano guy is gonna be all dramatic with dedications the way pop artists are." Emma sighed.

"Well, you never know. Have you really never heard of Mozart?"

\---

Erzsébet waved back at Emma before stepping inside her apartment. She ascended a few flights for stairs until she reached the third floor. She put her keys in the door and turned the knob open, stepping inside.

Room 304 was the place she called home, and she put her bag down on the sofa before grabbing an apple from the fridge and biting into it. She collapsed on the couch and pulled out her phone. Opening the browser, she typed in 'Roderich Edelstein' and pressed search. 

Wow, she'd really been living under a rock. There were tons of results in an instant. She opened the Wikipedia article displayed and scrolled. Child prodigy, international concerts, et cetera, et cetera. He was well-known in classical circles, not that those were her type.

She switched off her phone, finished the rest of her apple, and went for a shower. She needed to clear her mind and hopefully would never have to see that man ever again.

\---

"Erzsi, don't look now, but I think someone's checking you out."

"I'm working, Feliks." grumbled Erzsébet, sorting out glasses behind the counter. From his seat across her, Feliks rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

"If you ask me, he seems meh. 6.5/10"

"I wasn't." She stood up as a customer arrived and took their order. One choco frappe later, she turned back to her friend "Anyway, which one is it?"

"Over there. By the window." Feliks swept his eyes to the back of the cafe "He's been looking over for five minutes and I know it's not for a refill since he barely touched his cup." 

Erzsébet followed his gaze and blanched immediately. The other man raised a brow, a feline smirk creeping on their face "You know him?"

"Unfortunately." She ducked her head back behind the counter, finding more things to arrange just so she wouldn't have to be seen by Roderich flipping Edelstein "I...bumped into him yesterday. Literally."

"You mean hit on."

"Bumped! Collided! You're starting to sound like Francis."

Feliks made a face and swirled his straw in his frappe "Ugh. No. I'd rather die than be anything like him. Anyway, isn't that guy some sort of, like, a piano man or something?"

"Apparently." She replied "I don't know him."

"Same. But you should check him out."

"No!"

\---

The inevitable interaction finally happened when a few minutes later, the girl from yesterday burst in and sat at Edelstein's table, who then called Erzsébet over for an order. She glared at Feliks winking at her as she retrieved her clipboard and a menu and went to their table.

"What are you having, Miss?"

"Erika." The girl beamed up at Erzsébet, "And I'm having a hibiscus lemonade and a slice of cheesecake, please."

"Alright." Erzsébet scribbled down the order on her pad "And you, sir?"

"Hn." Roderich was still staring intently at the menu. He could practically bore a hole into it. If he somehow did, she wanted to crawl into it and hide "A blueberry tarte. And another melange."

"Right." Erzsébet wrote down his order "Hibiscus lemonade, melange, cheesecake, and blueberry tart? Is that all?"

Roderich raised a brow at Erika, who shook her head. He handed Erzsébet exact change in payment "Yes. Thank you very much."

Erzsébet nodded and folded the clipboard under her, ignoring the stare she felt on her back as she left. She gave their orders to Emma and ignored Feliks' wiggling eyebrows before returning to the Edelstein table.

"Here you go." She said "Tea, Melange, cake, and tart. Enjoy."

Erika smiled and thanked her as she walked back to the counter, where Francis stood behind the cash register, finally arriving just six hours late this time. He was lucky he owned the place or his attendance record alone would probably have him fired long ago.

"Eating the eye candy, Élisa?" he asked, grinning.

She groaned "No. He's a customer. I'm legally obliged to hate him."

"Uh-huh that's what you said with And-"

"Shut up or I'm throwing a skillet at you."

"Temper, temper." Francis smirked, raising his hands in mock surrender. Across them, Feliks snickered under his breath.

"Hey Franny, wanna make a bet?" he asked, downing the last of his drink.

Francis visibly relaxed as Erzsébet stepped away from him when another customer called for her. She huffed and pointed two fingers to her eyes, then at the two men as she stepped away again. By the time she returned, the two of them were shaking hands, which they withdrew at once the moment she stood beside them.

"Alright," she crossed her arms "What's the deal?"

"Oh, nothing." replied Francis, ever the tease "We're just seeing who's superior between us."

"Yeah, totally nothing suspicious here." added Feliks "Just keep working, and I'll stay here longer and order more so you'll still get some profit."

She narrowed her eyes at them, but didn't press the matter as Lovino showed up for his daily corto. The Edelsteins left at some point and when she went to clean their table, she noticed a small piece of paper sticking out beneath Roderich's cup. Brows furrowing, she picked it up and read it. A business card. She flipped it and saw something scribbled on the back.

"10 p.m." She read before quickly shoving it into her pocket. She picked up the rest of their plates and glasses and hurried back to the kitchen. When she returned to the counter, Feliks was looking at her and tilting his head with a smile. "Sooo?" He drawled.

"So what?"

"Did he leave something?"

"Is this related to your stupid bet?"

"Just answer the question, Élisa." Urged Francis. Erzsébet sighed and crossed her arms.

"Fine. He did. A business card."

"Ha!" exclaimed Feliks suddenly, cackling as he flung a finger at Francis "Pay up now, loser."

Francis groaned and pulled out a few Euro bills from his wallet before turning back to Erzsébet. She had her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot.

"Anyone care to explain?" 

"We were guessing who would make a move first. You or him." replied Francis, shaking his head "I thought you more bold, my dear. I should have expected more from your inner maiden."

Erzsébet swatted his arm, drawing satisfaction from the undignified yelp he let out. "In your dreams."

**Author's Note:**

> A 2017-ish AU revived! Quarantine magic, amirite?


End file.
